URL Encode & Decode — Free Online Tool

Encode special characters for URLs or decode percent-encoded strings.

How It Works

  1. 1Paste your URL or component string into the input area.
  2. 2Choose whether to encode or decode.
  3. 3Copy the result with one click.

About URL Encode/Decode

URL encoding (also known as percent encoding) replaces special characters with %XX hex codes so they can be safely used in URLs and query parameters without breaking the URL structure. Characters like spaces, ampersands, equals signs, question marks, and non-ASCII Unicode characters all need encoding when included in URLs. This tool encodes text using JavaScript's encodeURIComponent function and decodes percent-encoded strings back to readable text. It is indispensable for web developers constructing API URLs with dynamic parameters, debugging query strings with encoded values, preparing redirect URLs, and working with OAuth callback URLs that contain encoded parameters. Paste a URL to see the decoded version and understand what parameters it contains, or type plain text to get the properly encoded version for safe inclusion in a URL. The tool correctly handles multi-byte Unicode characters, which is important for internationalized URLs.

From the blog

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my data sent to a server?

No. All processing happens locally in your browser. No data leaves your device.

What is URL encoding?

URL encoding (percent-encoding) replaces special characters with a % followed by their hex code. For example, a space becomes %20 and an ampersand becomes %26. This ensures URLs are valid and unambiguous.

When should I URL-encode text?

Encode text when including it in query parameters, form data, or any part of a URL that might contain special characters like spaces, ampersands, or non-ASCII characters.

Does it handle Unicode characters?

Yes. Non-ASCII characters like emoji and international text are encoded as UTF-8 byte sequences, each byte represented as a percent-encoded value.

Is my file uploaded to a server?

No. Transmute processes everything locally in your browser using JavaScript and the Canvas API. Your files never leave your device — there is no server, no upload, no cloud processing.

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